Casing for upright pianos



Oct. 25, 1949. w. ZAISER 2,486,354

I CASING FOR UPRIGHT PIANOS Filed Oct. 20, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 TIP]. 1

Oct. 25, 1949. w. ZAISER CASING FOR UPRIGHT PIANOS l iled Oct. 20, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mill NHM

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2 Claims.

This invention relates to a casing for upright pianos of novel construction such as to simplify the assembly, lessen the weight and give the appearance of being small and compact.

In the usual structure of piano cases the end panels generally support the key bed with or without the association of exposed legs, being of heavy flat structure glued or screwed to the back frame and to which the key bed is customarily fastened, wherein such end structures have a load bearing function. As distinguished therefrom, this invention is directed to a piano having no exposed legs and wherein the key bed is supported by a projecting base pedestal through the medium of inset concealed posts.

To accomplish this construction the base pedestal projects outwardly from the back frame, which is supported thereby to carry the inset concealed supporting posts for the key bed, the key bed extending outwardly from the back frame to overhang the base pedestal, its outer portion being supported by the supporting posts. Due to the overhanging relation of the key bed with respect to the base pedestal the supporting posts are set in from their respective edges so as to permit of concealment and slopes downwardly and inwardly substantially corresponding to the overhang. Thus the supporting structure is of a skeleton frame structure comprising the supporting base pedestal, the upright back frame, the outwardly extending and overhanging key board with the inwardly and downwardly extending supporting posts intermediate the pedestal and the key bed located well within the outer periphery, but positioned substantially forwardly of the back frame in the nature of a bracing support for the overhanging of the key bed.

Another feature of the invention resides in the mounting of preformed molded shells or panels to enclose and conceal the supporting skeleton frame structure and the piano action. For this purpose in concealing the piano action a preformed molded shell of plywood or plastic material is removably mounted adjacent the upper portion of the back frame to slope downwardly over the rear portion of the key bed with the curved upper surface and rounded ends to enclose the piano action. Similarly preformed molded end shells, preferably curved and tapering to conform with the inwardly and downwardly extending posts, are secured at each end of the piano between the back frame and the supporting post. Intermediate the supporting posts a front panel may be preformed of any suitable material, but preferably with louvers in the form of vertical lips spaced apart to permit tone escape therebetween and conforming to the inwardly and downwardly sloping angle of the posts and the forward portion of the pedestal. Thus the concealing top, end and front panels may be preformed and removable and, having no structural function, can be made extremely thin and decorative with flowing curves and of readily molded material, their chief function being merely for appearance and concealment of the structural framework.

A further advantage of the structure resides in the fact that the entire frame work of the piano being mounted upon and supported by the pedestal, said pedestal may in turn be supported through a three point suspension in the form of rear end and central forwardly disposed gliders or casters which will overcome floor inequalities.

By reason of the above features the construction of the piano casing is substantially simplified, as well as being capable of unusual design and appearance as distinguished from the conventional piano casing structures. Furthermore, this has the effect of giving the piano player a sense of freedom due to the free expanse of the music desk resulting from the shallow sloping top panel, as well as a sense of freedom by reason of the absence of exposed legs and absence of the usual box-like end structures, the key board being invisibly supported so that its function as a keyboard stands out and is emphasized.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the piano casing.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the frame structure with the concealing panels removed and indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the end panel.

Fig. 7 is a perspective, view of the top panel.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an end panel.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal section through a portion of the front panel.

In the drawings there is shown an upright piano casing having a vertical back frame l0, a pedestal ll secured thereto and extending forwardly to provide a firm support for the piano.

Secured to the back board near the upper portion thereof there is provided a beyboard l2 including side rails [3. The keyboard extends outwardly in overhanging relation to the pedestal and is supported thereon by the downwardly and inwardly extending legs or supporting posts I4, all as best illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. These elements of the structure comprise the supporting framework.

The casing is completed by providing several enclosing and concealing panels and including the top panel [5, a pair of end panels l6 and the front panel IT.

The top panel i5 is removably seated on the key bed with its side rails E3 to slope upwardly and rearwardly to that portion of the back board projecting about the key bed. Said panel is molded of a like material, such as a plastic or plywood, to give it graceful and decorative curvatures including end portions, so that the single panel encloses and conceals both frontally and endwise the piano action, but is readily removable as a unit to give ready access thereto. By reason of its structure it may be conveniently formed and shaped to not only present a pleasing and artistic appearance, but would have a free low expanse of music desk without any abrupt rise.

The end panels it are similarly molded of plastic or plywood to graceful curvature so as to conform to the inwardly and downwardly sloping posts i 4 and the back board !9. Said end panels are designed to conceal the supporting posts and interior frame structure from the ends and give the appearance of a graceful pedestal-like support without the usual forward exposed legs.

The forward panel ll is constructed as a unit to be removably mounted between the legs and conform to the inwardly and downwardly sloping angle thereof, extending from under the key bed well set back from its forward edge to the base board. This panel may comprise aseries of closely spaced vertical bars supported by framework or fabric lining such as to emit the tone vibrations from the usual sounding or back board.

In association with the above is provided the usual music rack l8, fall board 19 and ledge 20.

The various parts or elements of the frame structure, as shown in Fi 4, may be rigidly secured by screws, gluing or the like in the usual manner, whereas the several panels above described may be removably secured in place with screws, clips or like fastening means as may be desired.

Whereas a design of piano casing shown herein is illustrative of one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that various different and attractive designs may be created within the scope of this invention by reason of the qualities of the molded panels which are capable of being made in varying forms.

The invention claimed is:

1. In an upright piano structure comprising a vertical back board, a supporting platform pedestal therefor, a key bed secured to said back board to extend over said pedestal and be supported thereon by inset concealed legs, the combination therewith, of removably mounted piano casing sections including a preformed forward panel unit mounted on said pedestal intermediate said legs extending from said key bed downwardly and inwardly sloping to said pedestal, the upper portion thereof being inset inwardly from the outer edge of said key bed, and a pair of preformed late-rally curved end panels, each mounted between the respective ends of said forward panel and back frame with the forward edge thereof sloping downwardly and inwardly to conform to said forward panel.

2. In an upright piano structure comprising a vertical back board, a supporting platform pedestal therefor, a key bed secured to said back board to extend over said pedestal and be supported thereon by inset concealed legs, the combination therewith, of removably mounted piano casing sections including a preformed forward pa-nel unit mounted on said pedestal intermediate said legs extending from said key bed downwardly and inwardly sloping to said pedestal, the upper portion thereof being inset inwardly from the outer edge of said key bed, said panel unit comprising :a series of closely spaced upwardly extending bars carried by a framework of fabric lining to emit tone vibrations therethrough, a pair of preformed laterally curved end panels each mounted between the respective ends of said forward panel and back frame with the forward edge thereof sloping downwardly and inwardly to conform to said forward panel, and a preformed shallow top panel unit seated on said key bed formed to slope upwardly and rearwardly to the upper portion of the back board and having enclosing end portions.

WILLIAM ZAISER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 169,386 Trayser Nov. 2, 1875 258,455 McCammon May 23, 1882 540,298 Clark June 4, 1895 571,645 Clark (Nov. 17, 1896 1,084,088 Hopphan Jan. 13, 1914 1,490,678 Munafo Apr. 15, 1924 1,642,356 Brey Sept, 13, 1927 1,731,158 Collen Oct. 8, 1929 1,752,234 Collen Mar. 25, 1930 2,113,045 Evans Apr. 5, 1938 2,220,225 Farny Nov. 5, 1940 2,249,978 Pfaff July 22, 1941 2,263,839 Farny Nov. 25, 1941 

